Reality TV star Bethenny Frankel comes to Stamford Palace

Christina Hennessy, Connecticut Post

Christina Hennessy, Staff Writer

Published 8:20 pm, Tuesday, March 1, 2011

TV reality star Bethenny Frankel will be bringing her Skinnygirl Night Out tour to Stamford, Friday, March 4. She will appear at 8 p.m. at the Palace Theatre. Contributed photo/Sergio Kurhajec
Photo: Contributed Photo

TV reality star Bethenny Frankel will be bringing her Skinnygirl...

Bethenny Frankel attends the Huffington Post 2010 "Game Changers" event at Skylight Studio Oct. 28, 2010 in New York City. Frankel will be at the Palace Theatre in Stamford March 4. (Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images)
Photo: Contributed Photo

Reality TV personality Bethenny Frankel may get a chance to walk the red carpet from time to time, but her life is more than just glamor and glitz. On this morning, for instance, she was working to get her 9-month-old daughter, Bryn, to take a nap.

"I'm trying to get her to sleep," she said, quietly, at the start of the interview, one of only a few scheduled for the day.

On a short break from her Skinnygirl Night Out public speaking tour, she was looking forward to a few days of rest and relaxation in Miami. She said she was attempting to unplug for a while, leave the e-mails and calls to another day.

"I always try to do everything for everybody. I try to do so much," Frankel, 40, said. "I feel a responsibility to my fans, all these great women, and I put myself last. But I am trying to change that."

This former star of "The Real Housewives of New York City" sits atop a lifestyle empire that includes a website, best-selling books (including 2009's "Naturally Thin"), exercise DVDs, a multi-city tour, her calorie-conscious cocktail mix Skinnygirl Margarita and more.

On Friday, March 4, Frankel rolls into Stamford's Palace Theater as part of her 13-city tour. Her fans have come to expect she will give them the skinny on how she manages to be a wife, mother, friend, natural foods chef, entrepreneur and reality television personality.

For two-and-a-half hours, she will offer an unrehearsed dialogue and take audience questions.

She also will be revealing the rules that guide her life. Her third book, "A Place of Yes: 10 Rules for Getting Everything You Want Out of Life," will be released this month.

"Whether they want to be a philanthropist, a triathlete, a mom ... they do not have to be the same thing I am," she said. "It's just about how I got here."

Frankel first gained national attention in 2005, as the runner-up in NBC's "The Apprentice: Martha Stewart." Before that, she had been building a business as a natural foods chef. Her efforts are focused on finding ways to make rich dishes a whole lot healthier and with a lot less calories -- without compromising on taste.

"I had always been into food and cooking," she said, but it wasn't until she went to the Natural Gourmet Institute for Health and Culinary Arts in New York City that she turned a hobby into a career.

But "The Apprentice" was only the start.

"I had to use that like a dry sponge and squeeze it for any moisture," Frankel said.

By 2008, she had been cast on Bravo's "Real Housewives," and stayed for three seasons. She followed with "Bethenny Getting Married?" and, last week, her latest reality show, "Bethenny Ever After," premiered on Bravo.

Fans have been promised a look into Frankel's daily life, which includes juggling the demands of marriage and motherhood, while building a business. She lives in New York City with her husband, Jason, her daughter, and her dog, Cookie.

Already, her growing family has brought about a shift in priorities, she said.

"I want her to always feel safe and loved," she said of her daughter. "I want to be good to my husband and my baby and that's all I can do."

As to how she achieves balance with such disparate demands, she said she is learning not to beat herself up when she can't get to everything or everyone.

"I'm not even asking for balance," she said. "All I want is a good night's sleep."